If you've read about why I veil at Mass, you know that the centrality of my devotion is the Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ on Father's Day weekend, I can't help but think of how both of these celebrations have something to do with the deepest desires of our hearts.
Often, people look at those of us lay folk who are more "religious" as if we do what we do because we have some kind of agenda we want to impose on others. We are often called "legalistic," as if we have chosen our devotions because we feel the need to check things off an imaginary "Good Catholic" list.
So while I grant that it's possible that a small portion of Catholics may very well have a legalistic approach to the faith, I would argue that most of us do not. And yet, the stereotype remains. We hear homilies that tell us what we should do and how we should be, and while it's important to know this, they can also add to stereotype because the message people continue to hear is "here is the checklist." This is possible even if it now sounds more like a thoughtful interpretation of the gospel rather than a bunch of arbitrary precepts.
So let's take a step back for a moment and go back to the most basic of the basics.
Every single one of us longs to love and to be loved infinitely. And it's true that, as much as we may pursue it, human love often disappoints. In fact, we may speak of having "welcoming parishes" and "doing works of mercy" so that we can "be Christ to others," but how many of us still have that deep longing for a love greater than ourselves?
This is not to say that we shouldn't do good deeds until we have reached a certain "level" of some kind spiritual lives, but maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves. Before we can truly give ourselves to others, we need to encounter God.
It's possible that we could be so focused on ourselves - what we do, how we think, or even what we believe God is calling us to do - that we aren't giving God a chance to fill us, to reveal Himself to us, to reveal His love for us, and to show us to what degree He truly does love us.
This is where the Eucharist comes in. Every day, we have a chance to let God sweep us off our feet all over again, when we behold the mind-blowing implications of Him having left us His very body, blood, soul and divinity to permeate our bodies, our entire beings, with His Divine Love.
This God, who doesn't even need us, remains in the tabernacle, day and night, waiting for the least movement of love from us. He opens himself up to abuse and indifference just because He wants to be this close to us. 
Encountering our God in the Eucharist is what we need, first and foremost. It's His plan for us. We are so broken by our sins, our weaknesses and our disappointments that we need to, first, let God be God. He is our Father, our Savior, our Love. We need to let Him love us. This is the fulfillment of what - or who - we long for. We long for God.
So instead of hearing about what we should do or how we should be, I believe the Church needs to start over by simply teaching us Who God Is.
On the feast of Corpus Christi, we realize that He is a God who longs to be intimately close to each one of us. So close, in fact, that not only did He send His Son to rescue us from evil, but He literally and miraculously stayed with us in a tiny white host. By entering into our very bodies, He has a chance at convincing us of His undying love.
With hearts healed by the amazing love of the Greatest of Fathers, then we can go forth and tell the world.
May God work to heal our hearts a little bit more every day so that, forgiven through sacramental confession and nourished with His love and mercy in the Eucharist, our loving Father may bring us and the whole world to eternal life.
"The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host."
- Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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